There are events in warfare that are considered to be turning points in a conflict and undeniably, the event for WWII in the Pacific was Midway in 1942. It marked the end of Japanese expansion and provided a rather crippling blow to Japan's offensive capabilities; specifically to its aircraft carrier force.

While this was not immediately apparent, it did put Japan and the United States on a somewhat even footing in this regard. Previously, Japan had held an edge and that edge allowed to greater freedom of movement. With the edge gone, it was more difficult for the Japanese to move forward and in fact, just the opposite started to slowly happen after Midway as the US invaded Guadalcanal in the Solomons and began the slow push back.

For the Japanese, Midway was a debacle that shouldn't have happened. Not only was Midway not really a strategically sound goal, but the Japanese were overcome with 'victory fever'; feeling that they were invincible. This led to some very poor judgment calls on the part of the Japanese when parts of their plan were obviously discovered by US Forces.

The US, on the other hand, was fortunate to have some clear thinking leadership that allowed them to take advantage of some of the overconfidence of the Japanese. The Japanese were further hampered technologically by not having radar aboard their carriers. It prevented them from having the sort of early warning needed to avoid in-coming US aircraft. Each time a Japanese ship was attacked, the ship was surprised by the appearance of US planes, making it too late to take proper evasive action or allow Japanese air patrols to intercept. This allowed the superiority of American dive bombers to be able to come into play and destroy Japanese aircraft carriers. On the other side, the superiority of Japanese torpedo planes allowed the USS Lexington to be sunk and eventually sink. It is an interesting fact that in 1942, all US carriers that were torpedoed by the Japanese eventually sank.

In this book on the Midway battle, author Mark Stille  starts with a preamble of events leading up to the battle, a look at the commanders of both sides and the men under their command. Then there is an inspection of the plans of both sides. The 'meat' of the volume is next with the various stages of the battle, including the errors made by both sides and the fortuitous events that allowed for American victory. Finally, introspection on how the battle went, what was learned from it, and how it affected future events.  All of this is superbly illustrated with period photographs and the artwork of Howard Gerrard.

If you want insight into an operation that has had a lot of press over the last decade or so, or just a fascinating read, then this is the book for you. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I'm sure you will as well.

October 2010

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